LOS ANGELESRahim Moore basically drove up to the UCLA campus last August and parked himself into a starting position.

The coaches were excited, they were inspired, and they have been working their visors off to make sure it never happens again.

Moore is the resident free safety as he becomes a sophomore. He might feel like a Ted Kennedy-style gray eminence before this Bruins year is done.

Rick Neuheisel doesn’t have an official depth chart, but some people think there might be seven real freshmen or redshirt freshmen starting against San Diego State on Saturday. The cupboard wasn’t bare when Neuheisel showed up last year, but it consisted of little more than a cup or a board.

Of course, another school in the area is playing a first-year freshman at quarterback. It has been in all the papers.

“I came out here and I was pretty vocal,” Moore said, standing on Spalding Field after a practice last week, being pretty vocal as always. “I said I wasn’t here just to be on the team as a freshman, but I wanted to start. And when we started practice, I showed I could be a pretty good ballhawk.

“I wanted to make the coaches notice me, and one day Coach (DeWayne) Walker announced I was the starting safety in a meeting, in front of everybody.”

Walker, the defensive coordinator, is now the coach at New Mexico State. If Moore was his final gift to the Bruins, the unwrapping has just begun. Moore was the fourth-leading Bruins tackler and had nine of them against Cal.

He also represents an interesting trend. From Dorsey High in the midst of L.A., Moore is part of an inner-city flow of talent to Westwood.

Defensive tackle Brian Price, linebacker Reggie Carter and defensive end Chinonso Anyanwu are from Crenshaw. Tailback Johnathan Franklin, who might start against the Aztecs, is from Dorsey.

Cornerback Aaron Hester is from Dominguez, and freshman receiver Randal Carroll is from Cathedral Prep, which is basically across the Harbor Freeway from Dodger Stadium. Linebackers Akeem Ayers and Justin Edison are from Verbum Dei.

It’s true that former coach Karl Dorrell started most of this. And it’s also true that USC, the logical destination for city players, didn’t recruit many of the holdover Bruins. Moore, for instance, visited Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Arizona State, but not Troy.

But the Trojans did want Carroll and tight end Morrell Presley, from Carson, and UCLA got them.

“As soon as I came here I thought it seemed like home to me,” Moore said. “I’ve been spreading the word.”

That’s not the only word he spreads. Moore regularly attends Full Harvest International Church in his neighborhood, “just around the corner from Dorsey.” It’s hard to get there during the season, but otherwise Moore is at every 8:30-to-11 a.m. Sunday service, and they congregate three times during a week, too.

He’s trying to get his pastor to attend some Rose Bowl games this year. He has a full contingent in the stands anyway, and his grandmother, Gloria, checks the games out on TV.

“She’s on an oxygen tank now,” Moore said. “I was really intrigued by what they were doing at North Carolina, but it’s so far away. I need to be around my family and friends.”

Moore witnesses for Christ at a moment’s notice. He doesn’t try to convert people but he does try to talk his teammates out of chasing the neon moon.

“Stefon Johnson (the USC running back, from Dorsey) is like my god-brother,” Moore said. “A few years ago, he got me into cranberry juice. That’s when I cut out the soda. I don’t even like meat that much. I’ll eat chicken and fish. Tacos, too. I love tacos. I get a fast-food thing every once in a while but I’m usually pretty good.

“I just feel better this way. I never did go out, but I don’t see any sense in doing stuff that’s bad for you and doesn’t glorify God. I’d rather drink water. It cleans everything out. I try to drink 100 ounces of water a day.”

UCLA football has been dead in that water for a long time now, without a New Year’s Day bowl in 11 seasons. Moore has three more years to lead some horses.

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